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Filial piety, that of honoring one’s ancestors, is a Chinese tradition that is alive and well on Maui. The name of that celebration today is Ching Ming, which translates to “sweeping of the tombs” by loved ones. Cleaning the burial site’s immediate area is an activity
when family members assemble before, on, or after the 5th of April every year to spring clean. It is essentially a time to remember one’s ancestors who have passed on from our world.
As a youngster growing up on Maui during the post-WWII war years, the males in our family spent time at the Tao Yee Kwock Temple in Wailuku actively participating in Ching Ming activities (reference to the March 22 Maui News article). The most auspicious date to celebrate the ceremony was on the 5th of April. However, if the 5th did not fall on Saturday or Sunday, then the Saturday after the 5th would be the day celebrated.
We youngsters were taken to the Waiehu Chinese Cemetery and given the task of placing three incense sticks and a candle before each tombstone. Firecrackers were lit to awaken the spirits and announce Ching Ming. A whole pig was roasted at the Chinese Camp at the Puunene Sugar Plantation by our dad. Then, everyone enjoyed a sumptuous meal of roast pork, vegetables, other side dishes and rice.
Our grandfather, Chun Cup Choy, arrived on Maui in 1881. Grandpa worked for Tong Kan at the Huelo Sugar Plantation cutting cane. At the end of the harvest, he followed his mentor, aka Akana Liilii, to Wailuku to learn butchering and English. He spent six years at Huelo and Wailuku working and learning. Grandpa married Amoi from Laupahoehoe and our pop, Charles Aping, was born at Hamakuapoko.
He studied at Paia Grammar School until the 4th grade and was taken to China in 1907 with his older and younger brothers to acquire the Chinese customs, which included learning to speak, read and write Chinese, at the Village School at Sam Chow, today’s San Zao Dao Island across the bay from Macau. Pop became a skilled cook and later a butcher at his father’s meat market in Kokomo after he returned to Maui with our mom and oldest sister in 1921.
At the turn of the 19th century, with the large Chinese population on Maui, six temples were built. The first temple constructed was Chee Kung Tong Society, built in 1904 in Wailuku at 2195 Vineyard St. The Tao Yee Kwock Society was also built in Wailuku, in 1906 on Market Street across from the Iao Theater at the present site of the savings and loan bank. The Lin Hing Society in Keanae and the Chee Kung Tong Society clubhouse in Kipahulu have both become forgotten memories.
Today, only two temples have survived – the Ket Hing Society building at Kula, which is still active with yearly Ching Ming services, and the restored Wo Hing Society Hall on Front Street in Lahaina.
The “Maui King,” Sun Mei, was a high-profile, rather gregarious and outgoing sort who supported and looked after the affairs of Maui’s local Chinese. The “one-cup coffee lawyer” became highly involved in real estate negotiations involving many Chinese clients and assisted with Chinese issues personally. He prided himself as a spokesperson for his people and was known to have employed over 1,000 persons at his Kamaole Ranch as well as other businesses locally.
Sun Mei arrived on Maui in 1881, having spent 10 years previously on Oahu. Tong Kan arrived years earlier in 1852 and he too was heavily involved in sugar plantations and local Chinese affairs. Chun Cup Choy, who had a butcher shop in Kokomo, likewise held several official tenures in the Tao Yee Kwock Society, having served reputably as president and vice president a number of times.
Ching Ming and the Chinese temples called the local Chinese together and galvanized their lives on Maui. As the years went by, the temples added to the flavor of Ching Ming as the tongs and societies bridged the gap to Chinese religious practices and provided political assistance, mutual aid, friendship, and funerary benefits to its many members on Maui.
* Robert Cup Choy was born and raised in Makawao. He is a retired teacher who spends his time in Montebello, Calif., and Kihei.